iPhone 4 Components Cost Around $188 Says iSuppli

Component Analyst firm iSuppli says that the parts that went in the Apple iPhone 4 will have cost as little as $188, a figure that does not include the actual manufacturing, research and development or sofware costs.

The figure of $188 appears to be roughly in line with what Motorola paid for the Milestone at the beginning of the year, one of the more capable iPhone 3GS competitors. As for Google's Nexus One, a similar breakdown showed that the Bill Of Materials did not exceed $175.

The most expensive component in the iPhone 4 according to the iSuppli teardown is the 3.5-inch 960x640 pixels capacitive touchscreen display. Known as the "Retina display", it is manufactured by LG Display and costs $28.50.

The next highest cost appears to be the A4 processor which is said to carry an approximate cost of $10.75. Other parts like the gyroscope and the accelerometer components are not likely to exceed single digit prices.

Last year's teardown of the iPhone 3GS revealed that the BOM for the phone was approximately $179, a cost that has since fell by a third to around $134. Other costs that aren't included in the teardown analysis include advertising, shipping or patent licensing.

If iSuppli's figures are indeed close to the reality, the total BOM of the iPhone 4 is likely to be around £125. The starting selling price of the device in the UK is £499.